Crew switch for controlling a door operator

ABSTRACT

CREW SWITCH FOR A TRAIN CAR TO ENABLE OPENING AND CLOSING OF AN INDIVIDUAL DOOR FROM EITHER A KEY OPERATED STATION LOCATED OUTSIDE THE CAR OR A KEY OPERATED STATION LOCATED INSIDE THE CAR, AND CLOSING OF A DOOR BY THE MASTER DOOR CONTROL FOLLOWING OPENING OF THAT DOOR AT A REMOTE KEY OPERATED STATION, WHEREIN A RELAY ACTUATED SWITCHING CIRCUIT IS PROVIDED.

Feb. 9, 1971 A w.HAN 3,561,160

CREW SWITCH FOR CONTROLLING A DOOR OPERATOR Filed June 24, 1969 2 sheets sheet 1 )O f 1 5 1:31: 1: ]l:]E|] l:1[j[ )9 \u 0 A O0 O0? OO FlG.l

\6- CREW DOOR w LIGQ s TT H |N-- ml \4 1 ggg I OPE A T OR DOOR I OPERATOR LSl/VLTEHA CONTROL TRAIN A OOOR 15 SWITCH 20 CREW.

DOOR I 20a SWITCH )8 OR EW I I DOOR DOOR DOOR OPERATOR T L lfl lfl CONTROL OPERATOR TRAIN DOOR 1 SWITCH INVENTOR F163 WILLIA CHAN 30,43 BY m l ATTORNEY Feb. 9, 1971 CHA 3,561,160

CREW SWITCH FOR CONTROLLING A DOOR OPERATOR Filed June 24, 196.9 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 NORMAL DOOR CONTROL SIGNALS I- fi 23 40 25 4s 39 E IL t 42 TO OTHER DOOR To SELECTED OPERATOR CONTROLS DOOR OPERATOR CONTROL 5+ l I BOAl 27 38 37 30 K j 41 TO SELECTED DOOR OPERATOR AND OTHER CARS CONTROL INVENTOR BY 7W AT TO R NEY United States Patent 3,561,160 CREW SWITCH FOR CONTROLLING A DOOR OPERATOR William Chan, Park Ridge, Ill., assignor to Vapor Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed June 24, 1969, Ser. N 0. 836,080 Int. Cl. Ec 13/08; E05f 11/54 us. 01. 49-35 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates in general to switches for controlling the opening and closing of,doors on a train car, and more particularly to a crew switch thatis key operated and permits the control of an individual door, and more particularly. to a crew switch for controlling the operation of a door that is inexpensive to manufacture and capable of long life.

Heretofore, crew switches for controlling operation of a door on a train car have been mechanical instructure and included a specially constructed switch together with a solenoid operated latching device or mechanical lock for holding'the switchin actuated'condition. The latching device included a notched disc and a solenoid connected lever which often inalfunctioned because of jamming or freezing thereby often causing the solenoid to burn out. The specially constructed switch was costly andcontributed to an overall high crew switch. I

. The present invention eliminates the difficulties above mentioned and provides an inexpensive crew switch 'ar=- rangement that is capable of long life and high reliability. The crew switch of the invention is key operated and includes a relay having a plurality of normally opened arid normally closed contacts in a circuit 'with the door operator which'may be energized or de-energiz'ed by the key operated control and which may be de-energized' by cost factor for this x 3,561,160 Patented Feb. 9, 1971 cars for illustrating the operation of the crew switch according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the components for controlling operation of doors in train cars and relating particularly to the arrangement of the cars in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective diagrammatic view of the mechanical elements of the crew switch according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is an electrical schematic view of one form of the crew switch according to the present invention; and

. FIG. 5 is an electrical schematic view of another form of the crew switch according to the present invention.

The crew switch of the invention provides a door opening for a train crewman to enter and leave an empty train by controlling the opening and closing of a particular door of a train car at a key operating station without disturbing other doors on the train car or doors on other train cars in the train. Accordingly, the crew switch enables the train crewman to open and close a door by the use of a special key so that the train crewman can service a particular train car or the entire train by entering and leaving any door on the train equipped with a crew switch. The crew switch is interconnected with the master door control so that a door opened by the crew switch may be closed from the master door control station on any car, at the same side of the train as the opened door. It may be employed in new train cars or it may serve to replace the mechanical crew switches on older cars.

Reference is made to FIGS. 1 and 2 for generally illustrating the operation of the crew switch according to the present invention. For illustrating the invention, a

.train 10 including cars 11 and 12 are shown coupled together. It will be understood that the cars are mechanically and electrically coupled together to enable controlling of doors in one car from the master door control station in the other car. Master door controls are provided for each side of the train to control opening and closing of. all doors on the respective sides or doors of a particular car. Normally, a car will have more than one door on each side, but such is omitted in FIG. 1 for purposes of .simplicity. Car 11 includes door 13 which may be the master door control so that the door'corresponding to a particularly crew switch may be closed from any master door control station, at the same side of the train as the opened door.

It is therefore an object of'the present invention to provide a new and improved crew switch for a" train car.

Another object of the present inventionis in the pro vision of an electrical crew switch for a train car that is economical to manufacture and that will provide long life and high reliability.

Another object of the present invention is in the provision of a crew switch that may be used inside and outside of a train car in any desired location, wherein the outside and inside key holes need not be on the same center line. A further object of the present invention is to pro vide a crew switch having less moving parts than'any of drawings, wherein like reference numerals, refer to to like parts, in which:

FIG. lis a diagrammatic view of a pair of the train opened and closed by a door operator 14. A master door control 15 enables Opening and closing of the door 13 and other doors throughout the train on one side. A crew switch 16 according to the invention on car 11 serves to open and close only door 13. Similarly, car 12 includes door 17 which may be opened and closed by door operator 18, that may be operated by the master door control 19 of the crew switch 20. Again, the master door control 19 may be operated to solely open and close door 17 or any other doors in the car on the same side or to simul-' taneously open and close all of the doors on the train on the same side including door 13 of car 11 as well as door 17.

Referring to FIG. 2, a door operator control 21 is provided for actuating the door operator 14 of car 11 and operator control 22 may be triggered by the master door control 19 or crew door switch 20 of car 12 or the master door control 15 of car 11. The crew door switches 16 and 20 may be considered operable from the outside of the cars 11 and 12, the crew door switches 16a and 20a are provided for operation inside the cars 11 and 12. The crew door switch stations are constructed in a suitable fashion to be operated by keys that may be carried by the train crewmen, and according to the present invention the key holes for the outside and inside door switch stations need not be aligned as has been the requirement in heretofore known crew door switches.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the crew door switch of the present invention includes a relay having a relay coil 23, normally open relay contacts 24, 25, 26 and 27, and normally closed relay contacts '28 and 29. The relay of the crew door switch, when energized, functions to trigger the corresponding door operator control to cause the corresponding door operator to open the door connected thereto. Thereafter, de-energization of the relay triggers door operator control to cause the door operator to close the door. Insertion of the key in the crew door switch and turning to cause opening of the respective door closes the normally opened switch contacts 30 to apply B+ from B+ line 31 to the relay coil 23 for energizing the relay to simultaneously close normally open relay contacts 24, 25, 26 and 27 and open normally closed contacts 28 and 29. Closing of normally open relay contacts 24 located in holding circuit 32 holds the relay coil 23 in energized condition following opening of switch contacts 30 when the key is removed from the crew door switch. Accordingly, it is not necessary to maintain the key in the crew door switch, and only momentary closing of switch contacts 30 is needed to energize the relay coil 23 for opening of the door and maintaining the door in open position by the holding circuit 32.

Closing of normally open relay contacts 26 applies to the door operator control through circuit 33 the necessary electrical power to trigger the corresponding door operator control to cause the corresponding door operator to open the door connected thereto. Closing of normally open relay contacts 27 provides electrical power through circuit 34 to the selected door operator for other functions such as to unlock the door.

Opening of relay contacts 28 and 29 prevent the application of electrical power through interconnecting circuits 35 and 36 to control other door operator controls of adjacent train cars or of the same car. As will be seen hereafter, circuits 33 and 34 are employed in the normal operation of the door during normal use of the cars by the master door control at the inside of the cars.

If a given door in a car is opened by its associated crew door switch such as schematically illustrated in FIG. 4, the door may be closed by one of two methods. It may be closed in one instance by insertion of the key into an inside or outside mounted crew door switch and turning same in the direction to close the corersponding door which causes opening of the normally closed switch contacts 37 that are located in the holding circuit line 32. This disconnects the B+ supply voltage from the relay coil 23 causing it to be de-energized thereby opening contacts 24, 25, 26 and 27, while closing contacts 28 and 29. Opening of contacts 26 removes the power from the selected door operator control to condition same and cause the corresponding door operator to be actuated and close the corersponding door. The key may be turned to the neutral position and thereafter removed.

Another method for closing of the doors opened by the crew switch enables the train crewmen to close the door from any master door control station on any train car, at the same side of the train as the the opened door. The train crewmen must first operate the master door control to open all doors on that side of the train. This causes the application of the B+ supply voltage to the circuit 38 which is normally connected to all of the door operator controls on the same side of the train, but would not be connected to a door operator control opened by the crew switch because of the open relay contacts 28. Application of the B+ supply voltage to circuit 38 applies a 8+ supply voltage to circuit 39 that applies the B+ through the normally closed crew switch contacts 43, the closed relay contacts 25 that are closed by the energization of relay coil 23, to the ground side of the relay coil 23 at connection 40. Since the other side of the relay coil 23 is also a B+ through the closed relay contacts 24 and the normally closed crew switch contacts 37, there is no voltage across the relay coil 23 causing it to de-energize. This will open relay contacts 24, 25, 26 and -27 while closing contacts 28 and 29. However, the door opened by the crew door switch will remain open with all the open doors on that side of the train since B-iis now supplied to the door operator control circuit 33 through closed relay contact 28 in circuit 33. Operating the master door control to close all of the doors on the same side of the train will then interrupt the B+ power to the circuit 38 and close all of the doors on that side of the train, including the selected door which was previously opened by the crew door switch.

Circuit 41 is connected to the train door switch for providing control of other functions related to the door operator such as unlocking and locking of the door, and it is seen that it is connected to the locking circuit 34 through circuit 36 and closed contacts 29 when the relay is de-energized.

In order to prevent a direct short to ground when applying the B+ supply to the ground side of the relay coil 23, a resistor 42 is connected in series commonly with the relay coil and circuit 39 and with ground.

The normally open relay contacts 25 serve to prevent the application of B+ to the connection point 40 when the relay coil 23 is de-energized, while permitting the application of 13+ to the relay coil when it is energized.

Normally closed contacts 43 are opened at the time when the normally open switch contacts 30 are closed during operation of the crew switch to open the door in order to prevent the application of B+ voltage from the circuit 38 during the operation of the master door control, thereby preventing chattering of the relay and closing of the door in steps.

An example of a crew door station is shown in FIG. 3, wherein a key 44 fits in a keyhole 45 of a pivotally mounted actuating bar 46 that may be pivoted clockwise to actuate switches 30, 43, and pivoted counter clockwise to actuate switch 37 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4. Thus, the bar 46 may be moved from the neutral position shown in either direction to open or close the door.

An illustration of the electrical hookup for a crew door switch having non-aligned outside and inside stations is shown in FIG. 5. Inasmuch as essentially the same components are employed, the same numerals will he used to identify like parts. The inside crew door station merely includes normally open switch contacts 30A connected in parallel with outside switch contacts 30, and normally closed switch contacts 37A and 43A connected in series with inside normally closed switch contacts 37 and 43. Thus, it can be appreciated that the outside and inside crew door stations for operating a particular door in a car need not be aligned thereby providing greater flexibility in mounting of crew door stations. The operation is the same as that stated with respect to the circuit of FIG. 3.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be efiected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. In a train having a plurality of cars, each car including doors on both sides, means for driving the respective doors between open and closed positions, a master door control circuit on each side of the car, said respective door driving means opening the respective doors when said master door control circuit is energized and closing the doors when it is de-energized, the improvement in a crew switch for opening and closing an individual door and operable to permit closing of the door by first energizing and then de-energizing the master door control circuit, said crew switch comprising parallel connected door opening and door closing switch contacts, key operated means for operating said switch contacts, a relay having a relay coil in a circuit with said switch contacts, said door opening switch contacts being normally open and said door closing switch contacts being normally closed, said relay operating a plurality of normally open and normally closed relay contacts, one of said normally open relay contacts being in series with the door closing switch contacts to hold the relay coil energized following momentary closing of the door open ing switch contacts, another of said normally open relay contacts being in a circuit to operate the door driving means for opening the door when the relay coil is energized and to close the door when the relay coil is deenergized, one of said normally closed relay contacts being in a circuit to disconnect the master door control circuit from the respective door operator when the relay coil is energized, and one of said normally open relay contacts being in a circuit to connect the ground side of the relay coil to the master door control circuit when the relay coil is energized to cause the relay coil to drop out when the master door control circuit is energized.

2. The combination as defined by claim 1, and another of said normally open relay contacts being in a circuit controlling a locking means for the door, master door control locking circuit on each side of the car, and another of said normally closed relay contacts being in a circuit to disconnect the masther door control locking circuit from the locking means circuit when the relay coil is energized.

3. The combination as defined by claim 1, and switch contacts in said relay coil dropout circuit operable simultaneously with the door opening switch contacts to open the relay coil dropout when the relay coil is being energized.

4. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said parallel connected door opening and door closing switch contacts include first and second parallel connected normally open switch contacts in parallel with first and second series connected normally closed switch contacts, and said key operated means including a station at the outside of the car for controlling both of said first switch contacts and a station on the inside of the car for controlling both of said second switch contacts.

5. The combination as defined in claim 1, and a resistor connected between the ground side of the relay coil and ground to prevent shorting of the master door 6 control circuit to ground when energizing same to cause de-energization of the relay coil.

6. The combination as defined in claim 4, and first and second series connected normally closed switch contacts in said relay coil dropout circuit operable simultaneously with the first and second normally open switch contacts to open the relay coil dropout circuit when the relay coil is being energized.

7. In a train having a plurality of cars, each car including doors movable between open and closed position, door operators for the doors, door operator controls for the door operators, and a master door control including door control stations in each car for operating all of the door operator controls simultaneously on one side of the cars, a crew switch arrangement for opening of an individual door in a car comprising a relay having normally open and normally closed relay contacts, a relay energizing circuit and a relay de-energizing circuit operable from a station outside the car and a station inside the car, a holding circuit associated with one of said normally open relay contacts for maintaining the relay energized upon actuation of the energizing circuit, a door operator control circuit associated with one of the normally open contacts for applying a signal to the door operator control to actuate a door operator, a connection circuit associated with one of the normally closed contacts for disconnecting the master door control circuit from the door operator control circuit, and a relay deenergizing circuit associated with one of the normally open contacts for connecting the master control circuit to the ground side of the relay to de-energize same by the master control.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,770,484 7/1930 Forman 341 4,849,516 3/1932 Forman 105341 1,874,483 8/1932 Forman 105-341 2,190,402 2/ 1940 Curzon 4924X J. KARL BELL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

